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So much news!
I keep telling myself I need to get in the habit of writing every day about the little things instead of waiting for big things to happen and then documenting them as if I’m writing a book report on my life. But days slip by as they are wont to do and my great ideas on blogging are in vain. As usual.
So here are the big things:
Bug has a two-wheeler! She inherited SuperChic’s old bike. My mom had it sitting around at her house and a neighbor offered to fix it (flat tire, stripped screws where the training wheels needed to go…it just needed a major tune-up) so my mom paid her neighbor and now we have a new bike that is old but totally cool because I didn’t shell out a buncha bucks at Walmart or somewhere even more expensive.
Recycling at it’s best! Bug totally loves it and it has not even crossed her mind that I could have bought her a shiny new Hello Kitty bike for only five hundred some bazingas. Rusty princesses for the win! Actually, it’s not that rusty, so don’t worry about Tetanus or anything. I know somebody out there was worried about that. They don’t call me a seasoned blogger for nothing.
She’s still a little bit wobbly and scared to death of how the whole bike shifts from left to right when she moves her weight from one training wheel to the other but I have no fear that before long she’ll be whizzing around faster than I can yell at her to slow down. Right now I’m thankful for her fear. Even though we live on the American Dream cul-de-sac, I have nightmares about her getting run over by some crazy moron driving down our street too fast. So we are proceeding with the bike-riding with utmost caution. If she takes all year to learn I’ll be a happy momma. But considering how long she took to learn how to scooter I think she’ll be out of training wheels by next week. Sheesh.
I just wish she’d slow down with this growing-up business!
Did you notice her dark blue corduroy jumper? If you read my post about Bug loving hand-me-downs over on my review blog, you’ll have to chuckle at this outfit. It’s Rapunzel’s from ten years ago. I never expected Bug to like it and I almost tossed it in the goodwill box when I was going through old clothes, except she pulled it out and begged to wear it. Shows you what I know.
You know why Bug likes it? Because she thought the red ladybugs at the bottom were red spotted mushrooms from Mario Brothers Mushroom Kingdom. How does my kid know about that? We don’t have Nintendo. It’s not the 80’s. I guess in today’s world all red spotted mushrooms mean super fun musical games or something. Go figure. And yes, she was a bit disappointed when I pointed out that the red mushrooms had black heads and antennae. But she still wore it anyway.
Next big thing:
My Grandma turned 85 on Wednesday. EIGHTY-FIVE!!! How is this possible? It’s really true that when you pass thirty time speeds up to warp speed. I hate the fact that I’m being so clichéd* and moaning about it. But it’s true. My Grandma is so full of vim and vigor, I’m not ready for her to be old and frail. She’s taking it gracefully though. If ever there was someone to emulate, it is my Grandma. I want to be just like her when I grow up—which should be in about five minutes by my calculations.
So we went over to her house for dinner because that is all she really wants. Material presents are not important, just spending time with family is what she really enjoys. Good thing too because I am the worst at remembering to buy thoughtful gifts when I am navigating motherhood at warp speed. Actually, I think I was bad at remembering to buy thoughtful gifts even when I was young and bored but that is neither here nor there. The important thing is that we were all together and it was super sweet.
My Aunt Keren thought Grandma would enjoy some kitten-time so my mom brought over all six kittens that she has right now. She’s babysitting my kittens until they find homes since my carpet is freshly clean and she has wood floors and she has three other kittens from a feral cat who abandoned them in her yard. Isn’t my mom nice? Yes. And I’m really trying hard not to take her for granted. By the way, five of those kittens have good loving homes and now there is only one left! Phew!
Anyway back to Grandma and the kittens. It was so sweet! The little black one curled up on her chest and slept there for a half an hour. It was adorable and I think Grandma enjoyed it but then one of her eyes started turning red and itchy so we removed the kittens and decided Grandma might be allergic to the adorable little fluff-balls. It was fun while it lasted though.
We also had root vegetables, which we all love. Best dinner EVER. It was like old times. We missed you, Aunt Kathy.
Last big thing:
I found a trench coat at Target. You guys thought I already had one didn’t you? Nope, I didn’t. I never have. It doesn’t rain here, what do I need a trench coat for? Streaking? Hah! Like that’s gonna happen. It’s all part of my made-up Secret Agent Josephine character in my head. She doesn’t have a double chin either. Bet you never noticed that. Oh you did? Blarg. Well, she’s my made-up character so I felt inclined to improve her. Them’s the perks of being an illustrator. I can draw myself any way I want to be. Be all that you can be!
Stupidly, I got rid of my knee high black boots a while back because I didn’t like the pointy heel so I will probably be investing in some new boots soon. I’m so glad that pointy-heel-pointy-toe trend is over. But knowing me, by the time I get around to shopping for some again will be back in full force. I hate fashion sometimes.
But who cares about that! How funny is Bug? She’s the best model ever. I hate to exploit her cuteness on this blog but as you can see she steals the show without even trying.
So here we are in our official garb looking so very spyish. It’s almost like we didn’t just throw on some trench coats over our sundresses and pull an impromptu photo shoot in our driveway with the neighbor who actually doesn’t know how to use my camera but did a pretty good job anyway! It’s almost good enough to put in the back of my books as my author shot I think! In fact, I think I will just do that.
Keep calm and spy on, Secret Agents!
* That d is for you, Bethany.
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Meet Beatrice and Bugly
I have chairs now. They’re not exactly what I was going for but they’re growing on me. We’ve named them Beatrice and Bugly. Beatrice is the gold one on the right. I wanted to name them Ugly and Fugly but Bug thinks the golden chair is rather pretty and princess-like and deserves a better name than Fugly. So we compromised and came up with Beatrice and Bugly. Hopefully Bugly doesn’t turn out to be an omen for creepy crawly bed bugs that you all have so graciously warned me about in the comments. Eeeeee…. I’m totally creeeped out.
I’m pretty sure they are clean though. They smell like a combination of dry cleaner and moth balls and I’ve inspected them deeply and see no sign of bugs or dirt. But I guess time will tell. My Uncle who happens to be a pest control operator is visiting so I’ll ask him to check them out too.
I really like the lines of the top part of the chairs. I love the velvet and the colors. I feel like I’m on a tv show from the late sixties. But I hate the bottom part of the chairs. They’re rocking chairs! Which I do not like at all. They swivel around in circles and are always pointing the wrong way when I walk into the room. I think they secretly are plotting against me when I’m not around.
I thought maybe I could detach the bottom ruffle and the circular rocking parts and then attach some spindly wooden legs that would look much cooler. However, upon closer inspection I found that the rocker is totally incorporated into the chair structure and taking it apart would seriously compromise their stability. So rocking I am stuck with. Though I do have to admit that my guests who have sat in them so far approve. They are quite fun to swivel around in so you can converse with anyone in any part of the room.
And the best part? The dogs do not like them. So far there have been no dogs sitting on chairs. I think that’s great.
I’m not 100% on them though and since they only cost $12 and $17 respectively, I might take them back to the thrift store if something better comes along. We’re also talking about making an outdoor living room where my carport is so they might work out there for a summertime thing. I don’t know. I figure I’m just renting them for a flat rate of $29 and I can return them whenever I like.
But for now they’re kinda fun. I even bought a mumu for fifty cents at a garage sale to get in the spirit. It so groovy and unflattering. I’m sure it would look super cute on me if I was seventeen though. Maybe I should make it back into a tablecloth. Or I could just keep it around for those crazy days when you don’t care what you look like because it’s ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE DEGREES IN THE SHADE! I’m so not looking forward to those days.
For now I can just wear it when nobody is looking and pretend I’m living in the good old days back before I was born.
Were you wondering where I put my old white chair? It was quite a conundrum at first. I went from having no chairs to suddenly having too many chairs. I tried to fit them all in my living room and while it was great for conversation, it really got on my nerves that everything was so crowded. I didn’t realize what a neurotic freak I was until I found myself up at night stressing out about having too many chairs in my living room.
The next day I moved everything around in a manic blur and ended up with the white chair in my Parisian bedroom. I can’t believe it fit. It is actually kind of nice there. Holly thinks I put it there just for her.
Addendum:
Now that I’m looking at Bugly in photos, I’m not loving him so much. What do you say? Hot or NOT. I’m thinking most of you are thinking I’ve lost my mind in some kind of seventies haze. He really does look better in real life and that crocheted blanket actually is so clashy it’s cool, in my mind.
